


The Legacy They Left Behind

by SolitaryMess



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015), The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Crossover, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Multi, Non-Canon Relationship, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2018-03-25
Packaged: 2018-12-15 02:10:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11796264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolitaryMess/pseuds/SolitaryMess
Summary: Lex Luthor has finally done the unimaginable:Superman is dead.The  Kent family is devastated. Lois isn't coping. Her half alien daughter Clarke is out of control.And Kara is mourning the cousin that was her responsibility to keep safe, while trying to do her job, and ignore that Lena's last name is Luthor.Orthe 100/Supergirl Crossover that no one stopped me from doing.





	1. The Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so this is the prologue to a new story concept that came to mind because I can't control myself. 
> 
> Also As a warning I don't know when this is getting updated next cuz I'm going to bootcamp in 2 weeks so I will be gone a few months. 
> 
> I might get Chapter one out before I leave but we'll see.
> 
> Let me know what you guys think though!

Everyone was so nice.

  
So disgustingly and unbearably nice as her world upheaved itself.  
  
She hated it.

Nothing was more infuriating than an endless line of condolences to commiserate the murder of someone who should have been impervious to death.  
  
The world was distorted into shades of black and grey-funeral colors as world leaders and politicians gathered to mourn the champion of earth. His colleagues had also made their appearances. Batman. Wonder Woman. Green Lantern: The Founding members of the Justice League. It was an unlikely gathering of titans, the military  and the public that worshiped them both. The blatant show of solidarity made her stomach turn. The most powerful men and women in the world had assembled here. They could  topple cities, and level mountains-but they couldn’t save one of their own.

 

They couldn’t bring him back.

The Man of Steel was _dead._

 

Entire countries were grieving for him today. His trademark “S” had been written in the sky so even those who couldn’t attend his funeral were still apart of it. He’d saved so many people. It was impossible not to be stricken by his absence. He’d become a figurehead of hope during a time when things had been hopeless in Metropolis. No one thought there’d be a day  where they wouldn’t see him flying overhead to guard the people of earth.

But today was that day.  
  
His closest family and friends were doubly affected because they were burying two people; Superman and Clark Kent.  
  
His cousin Kara Danvers stood closest to the casket. She looked devastated. She carried the ghosts of her people with her everywhere. Krypton was nothing but ash, and dust; but remnants of what it used to be lived on in the House of El. But Kal El was dead, and to Kara  it must be like losing her planet all over again. Her sister Alex  stood next to her, a bastion of strength that was trying to steady her as yet another piece of home was wrenched from her grasp.  
  
The uncharacteristic look of despair on Kara’s face  was like the sun being eclipsed, but not as poetic.

It forced others to look away who were used to basking in her warmth. Jimmy Olsen had not made eye contact with her or anyone else in some time. He was on Kara’s right, his camera hanging unused around his neck. He was supposed to be representing Catco today but he couldn’t seem to focus on his job. Clark Kent had been his best friend. Covering his funeral had to be an impossible task.

The Daily Planet would get nothing from their Ace Reporter either because Lois Lane had been a veritable statue since the funeral started. Sequestered between General Lane and her sister Lucy, Lois almost looked small. Clark’s death had ruined her. She didn’t just lose her coworker, she lost her husband and the father of her child. There had always been an inevitability about them; The man of Steel and the reporter who humanized him. He’d been invulnerable to bullets, and lasers but brought to his knees by the smile of a pretty brunette.

It was every trashy romance novel brought to life.  
  
It was also what killed him.  
  
Clark’s bleeding heart, and inflated sense of duty were more dangerous than Kryptonite.  
  
Lex Luthor just happened to be the one to finally discover that fact.  
  
And now Lois had no husband.

And Clarke had no father.  
  
Chuckling in a way that held very little amusement, the youngest Kent buried into her grandmother’s side. Martha wrapped an arm around her, drawing her closer as if she could protect her from the sight of her father being lowered into the ground. “It’ll be okay honey.” The words felt like a placation, or perhaps a sweet lie. But she couldn’t tell who Martha Kent was lying too, Clarke or herself.  
  
She was fifteen.

Half Kryptonian.  
  
And fatherless.  
  
Nothing felt alright.  
  
“No it won’t.” Clarke replied, staring dully at the memorial that had been erected in Superman’s honor. “He’s gone. He's gone forever.”  The words came out quiet. Resentful even. But  Martha didn’t recoil because she had survived two lifetimes worth of Kryptonian temper tantrums, and even in her current state her maternal instincts were still intact. Sifting restless fingers through Clarke’s hair, her eyes followed her granddaughters to the giant statue of  Superman. It was as tall as a building. Indestructible looking like Clark had always been. A soft smile quirked her features as she remembered a boy not unlike the girl nestled against her. Just as lost, and angry about the world.  
  
“You’re right, and it hurts.” Martha admitted without pause, breath catching because they were talking about her son. Her baby boy who made up all the good parts of her life. He’d brought her so much joy in such a short period of time, and he was supposed to outlive her. He should have had the chance to grow old on earth. “This is all backwards, because the parents are supposed to go first, not the kids-Not Clark.” Her arm tightened around the girl that had his name. His eyes, and his jaw.  
  
Looking at her made something inside of Martha ache.

She’d lost Jonathon some years ago, but this was different.

  
This was harder.

“It’s going to be unbearable for awhile.” Martha murmured, pressing a kiss to Clarke’s forehead. She had to stifle a laugh when the teenager muttered something obscene under her breath that had Kara wincing on the other side of the room. “But eventually, hopefully,” She amended, with a watery laugh, “One day we’ll be able to get up and go about our day without missing him every waking second, because that’s what he would want us to do. It’ll be a struggle because he’s not here...when he should be.” Martha choked. “And coping with him being gone is going to be a bitch” She blinked, surprising herself  and Clarke with casual profanity that she normally prohibited in her home.  
  
Clarke’s arms tightened around her middle as she smothered a snort into her side.

“What happened to swearing is the sign of a limited vocabulary?” Clarke echoed one of Martha’s own lessons glibly.

“You heard nothing”  
  
Blue eyes peeked upward at her, and Clarke just tapped one ear knowingly.

Alien hearing.  
  
That had always been cheating in Martha’s opinion.  
  
As if reading her thoughts, Clarke smiled. “Not sorry.”  
  
“Brat.” Martha murmured affectionately, and the smile widened. It was a relief to know the girl was still an unrepentant  imp underneath all the grief. It was her most endearing quality, in the same way being a relentless paragon of truth and justice  had been Clark’s. Her granddaughter would recover from this one day.

  
They all would.  
  
That should have been the uniform thought on everyone’s mind as the music started playing and the funeral began in earnest. But the sinking feeling in Martha’s stomach was reminiscent of the one in Clarke’s, and James, and Lois’. Every member of the Justice league was attuned to the sorrow that was rife in the air. And the doubt that crept into everyone’s mind as they watched one of history’s most relevant heroes make his last appearance. But it was wrong because he was being lowered into the ground instead of flying into the stars.  
  
His impending absence weighed on the world's conscience like lead.  
  
_What was life going to be like without Superman?_


	2. Chapter One: Oh No

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Clarke isn't coping well. Kara isn't coping well. 
> 
> Batgirl is a literal blessing in disguise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so I accidentally double posted this story while trying to upload Chapter 2 lmao
> 
> I need a nap.
> 
> But the muse is still going so here's the official first chapter
> 
> Some things to note
> 
> Batman is still Bruce Wayne
> 
> Robin is not Damian Wayne, or Jason, Or Dick Grayson, I'll let you figure out who he is
> 
> And Batgirl is not Barbara Gordon
> 
> I messed around with the timelines to accommodate all the characters. But I hope you enjoy it anyways.

**[3pm in Metropolis]**

  
“Mom it’s time to get up.”  
  
No one answered her. Super hearing informed her that her mother was still in fact alive. Steady breathing filtered seamlessly through the door to her as if she was standing right next to her. However the lack of response was excruciating to endure when measured against the hour, and the likelihood that Lois was too smashed to remember her name right now. Very little could rouse her mother  from her bed at the best of times. These were the worst of times, and  Clarke could throw her into space with little compunction; and still receive no response beyond distant snoring live and in stereo above the atmosphere. Sighing dismally, Clarke applied a minimal amount of force to the door, and ducked into her mother’s room to check on her.  Immediately after crossing the threshold, she was scrambling for footing amidst a miscellaneous pile of beer bottles.

  
“Dammit mom.” She hissed, barely avoiding a faceplant as she maneuvered her way over to the bed. This had become almost routine since the funeral. Lois could barely summon the energy to go to work. And if she accomplished that impossible feat, she would come home and drink herself into a new dimension; presumably one where she showered and gave a shit about something besides the agonizing feeling being in a Post Superman world produced.  
  
That wasn’t reality though.  
  
Realistically, since losing Clark- Lois Lane was the ocean without the moon. There was nothing to pull her towards the shore. Nothing to keep her from drifting away with tides.

Not even her  daughter.  
  
The resilient part of her that many had come to admire had been buried with Clark.  
  
“Mom.” The Kryptonian halfling  tried to shake her awake, knowing it was a fruitless endeavor. “Perry called, he wants you to come in.” It was a lie, but it was a lie that deserved at least a finger twitch in acknowledgement.  
  
Lois didn’t so much as grunt.  
  
“Mom, they’re suspending me from school.” Clarke chewed on her bottom lip, waiting for some kind of recriminating lecture. A stern look of disapproval. Something. But Lois’ breath was still heavy and reeked of alcohol. She wouldn't be moving anytime soon. Sinking down on the edge of the bed, Clarke  anxiously played with the edge of her shirt as she kept talking. “I wasn’t going to tell you, but dad always said honesty was the best policy.” Clarke breathed out shakily, wincing at the memory of her father and his whimsical little sayings. “He was such a dork, god.” She complained half heartedly, but she didn’t mean it.  
  
She loved that about him.  
  
Loved. Past tense.

 If Clarke could ingest alcohol now she’d finish off the remaining beers that littered the room.

Talking about her dad like he was anything but present, and alive was torture.  
  
It made her insides burn in a way that only being exposed to Kryptonite should. “It feels like I’m losing to you too. You’re just-Not there anymore.” Clarke admitted quietly to her mother’s motionless form. “And I can’t fucking do this without you.”  
  
Truthfully Clarke was barely holding herself together too.  
  
She spent most nights flying above the clouds, tracing the path through the sky her father used to travel.  
  
One couldn’t be  in Metropolis without colliding with his phantom everywhere  
  
It was Superman’s city, and it pulsed with thousands of heartbeats that refused to keep pumping without paying tribute  to their hero.  
  
His face was plastered all over; Posters, Billboards, and buildings all enlarging his picture so no one would ever forget his face.  
  
Clarke comforted herself by saying goodnight to one of them every night before retiring to a rooftop to sleep.  
  
Sleeping at home hurt too much.  
  
Lois was determined to keep what was left of her husband alive.

All of his clothes, and tacky sentimental things from Kansas were in the exact same spot he left them.  
  
It was like she was waiting for Clark to show up one day in a flurry of blue and red proclaiming he saved the day like always.  
  
They’d laugh and joke about how he has super speed but managed to show up late.  
  
Everything would go back to normal.  
  
It was infuriating- Exhausting even to think it never would.  
  
“Alright well since I’m being the adult-I’m just going to let you know you smell like ass.” She grumbled, carefully hoisting her mother up so one arm was around her shoulder, and she had a steadying hand on her waist. “And I’m telling Aunt Lucy.” Because she could play this off as a funny incident, instead of the tedious experience it was.  Lucy had been asking for weekly updates on both of them, and Clarke had been dutifully downplaying how bad things were. Lois had always been purposely evasive with the Lane family  about most things in her life.  
  
General Lane was dangerous.  
  
Lucy could be more so.  
  
So Clarke couldn’t tell her how far things were from okay.  
  
Shuffling awkwardly down the hall, she managed to shove the bathroom door open with her shoulder and deposit her mother awkwardly into the shower.

With little thought to consequences she turned the knob just beyond the curtain, and watched with a tired grin as cold water rained down on her mother. Lois sputtered awake with a gasp, twisting to get away from the icy droplets.  
  
“Jesus that’s cold.”  
  
Bleary eyes turned to glare at her.  
  
Clarke’s grin widened. “Good morning.”

 “Gross.” Her mom could be referring to Clarke's chipper attitude or the hangover? Whichever was making her head hurt more at the moment. “Why am I conscious right now?”

 “You smell like you drank the entire bar? I'm doing you a favor before the Justice League liaison shows up in a few hours and does a sweep.” Unimpressed hazel eyes raked over her for a moment before settling on Clarke’s face. Guessing there was more. “Also I might be suspended and need you to sign some papers.”

 “Goddammit kid.” Lois closed her eyes and a shudder ran through her like she was processing which emotion should color her next sentence. “Just leave the papers on the table” Lois didn't even sound disappointed just impossibly tired.

And defeated.

 It was a feeling they shared in spades.

 Clarke hadn’t been to school in weeks, because she couldn’t focus. She didn’t care. She knew most of the subjects better than the teachers, and going was a courtesy she didn’t feel like extending anymore. Not until Lois got up and told her to go like a mother should.

But this wasn't a demand for Clarke to go back- it was resignation.

 Lois Lane had given up on everything recently.  
  
Including her daughter.

 Swallowing hard to contain her anger Clarke threw a withering look at her mother as she stood at her full height. “You can't even say my name can you? Does anything I do still matter to you?”

 Fury should have answered Clarke.

 They were both storms.

 Reckless and indiscriminate of what they destroyed in their wake.

 But Clarke was the only raging.

Lois still wouldn't look at her.

 Or couldn't look at her.

 Scoffing, she withdrew from the side of the tub before it fragmented in her grasp. “Whatever. I am leaving. There's some food left in the fridge for you.” She gestured in the general direction of the kitchen as she turned on her heel to make an exit. “Just don't drown in there.”

 And with that Clarke became a blur.

 She left her papers on the table and disappeared into the city.

 At least on the streets of Metropolis she could pretend she had a parent who smiled at her.

 

* * *

  
**[7pm in National City]**

 

“Ponytail why are you still here, stinking up my office with your inadequacy? Go home.” Snapper’s voice made her flinch because she had honestly forgotten he existed for a minute. Kara Danvers adjusted her glasses sheepishly, a telltale grin lighting her features as she glanced around the nearly empty office.  
  
“But-”  
  
“  _Home_ Danvers.” He dismissed her gruffly, not even looking up from the papers on his desk. “I don’t want to see you back here till you get a quote from Luthor about her brother. You took three weeks off, and now that you’re back you can cover what she thinks of the Man of Steel being gone.”  
  
Three weeks.  
  
It had only been three weeks since-

 

Kara wanted to cry. She hadn’t cried since losing him, because she was worried once the tears started they’d never stop. Nodding jerkily, she gathered her things, dumping them haphazardly into her bag, and slinging it across her shoulder. “I’ll just-yeah, get the quotes.” She mumbled awkwardly to her boss as she passed him by. He rolled his eyes, endlessly exasperated by her because he had no earthly clue what she was going through.

 No one knew how deep the well of grief ran for her.  
  
The Last son of Krypton was  _dead._

And he’d been hers-hers from birth to protect.

Supergirl had been a wreck in the news. Sloppy. Angry. Prone to mistakes she hadn’t made since she first donned the red cape.  
  
Kara Danvers wasn’t fairing much better.

 The number of things she broke, or forgot, or just plain couldn’t bother with grew daily.  
  
Her job was in jeopardy because she couldn’t fathom what quality articles looked like anymore.

She hadn’t hosted a game night in ages, because she could only handle her friends in small doses.

Sister nights were up in the wind.  
  
Alex wouldn’t be pushed away like everyone else so Kara had taken to leaning on her and Maggie whenever they offered. She was getting the full protective sister treatment, because these days she forgot to eat. Or clean. Or take a rudimentary interest in self care. So Alex frequently intervened-showing up at her apartment whenever she stopped answering texts, and curling up with her on the couch.  
  
_Alex assured her that it was okay to hurt._  
  
And Kara did ache endlessly.

 The loss of Kal El was felt marrow deep.  
  
She couldn’t sleep most nights, because his funeral  haunted her. He hadn’t even been guided into Rao’s light because he wanted to be buried like a human.  
  
Her beautiful, loving, stupid cousin was six feet under the ground, because he wanted to be remembered as the champion of earth instead of Kryptonian. The knowledge burned like nothing else, because when it was her turn to leave her mortal coil behind, she wouldn’t see him among their parents or ancestors. He’d forsaken them. And her. Twice over now.  
  
Sighing deeply in consternation of her thoughts that ran in a constant loop of grief, anger, and trying not to be smad, she ducked into the elevator that would take her to the Catco lobby, and aggressively pressed the first floor.

 

“Kara wait up.”

 

Her eyes narrowed as Jimmy Olsen made a beeline for the elevator.

 She stuck her foot out to the jam door so he could shimmy in beside her with a grateful smile.  
  
“I heard you were back at work, and had to be the first one of the super friends to say welcome back.” He nudged her gently, trying to garner some kind of reaction from her. “We missed you.” He confessed after waiting a beat to see if she could produce some of that Sunny Danvers attitude.  
  
Kara managed to conjure a pained smile, eager not to worry  _the Daily Planet’s Star Reporter_ , as Ms Grant used to call him.

 “Thanks James. Glad to be back.” She looked anywhere but at him, because she could hear his heart rate picking up. James was alot like her in this respect, constantly wearing his emotions on his sleeve. She couldn’t deal with his concern right now though.

 It just reminded her that she wasn’t made of steel either.

 He glanced pensively at her, trying to gauge what the right thing to say was.  “Look Kara, I know things have been-awkward between us since we broke up. But I want you to know I’m still here for you. You can still-”

 The elevator dinged, and it was her saving grace.  
  
“Thanks. James. It means alot, but I also can’t.” She stumbled over herself, as she hastened to put some space between them. “I really can’t.” She continued in a softer voice after seeing his stricken look. An eternity ago, all she wanted was to be with him. He seemed like the ideal man, and had the capacity to understand her. But he couldn’t. Especially now, while she was drowning in feelings she couldn’t put into  words.  
  
She didn’t want to be that vulnerable around him anymore.

 “I’ll see you later James.” She left him there in the elevator and hurried out of Catco and into the brisk night air.

 National City needed her to get her shit together.

 She had to report in to the DEO in the morning.

 She had to pay Lena Luthor a visit in the afternoon.  
  
All she wanted to do was fly to Alaska and forget everything for awhile now.  
  
Instead she took out her phone and called the only number she still had with a Metropolis area code.  
  
_“Karaaaaa”_ A familiar voice crooned happily.  
  
“Clarke.” She breathed, absently letting herself relish the consonants in her name, and how the pronunciation was slightly different than her cousins. They were making a habit of these calls. At least once a day to ground each other. Clarke would be the next  heir to the House of El after her. It was a given they keep in contact. They were the last children of a dead planet. And right now they were both a little broken and lost. “You sound happy.”  
  
_“Octavia’s with me. She brought me toys.”_  
  
“Oh no.”

 Batgirl and Clarke were a terrible combination.

 They tended to forget boundaries, which was dangerous when one of them was a baby Super, and the other had full access to the Bat Cave.

  _“Hi Kara. I found your stray Kryptonian and I’m keeping her for the night.”_ Octavia Blake’s voice filtered down the line, and there was a yelp as one of them rudely shoved the other away from the phone. 

  
“Please be careful.” Kara was fighting back a smile, but she really wanted them to take safety into account. The world didn’t need to see them wreaking havoc all over Metropolis. “Why isn’t Batgirl in Gotham though?” She asked, her gaze flitting back and forth across the street before she ducked into an alleyway to discard her civilian clothes.  
  
A second later Supergirl was in the air surveying the city while her cellphone rested precariously between her ear and her shoulder.  
  
_“Batman came to do a sweep of the city and talk to Lois. I came along because Clarke’s a loser and she needs me to survive”_  Octavia’s haughty tone made Clarke squawk in outrage, and Kara could hear an actual fight commencing on the other side of the phone. She’d be worried if they weren’t also giggling every other second.  
  
_“She’s actually using me as a meatshield. This idiot STOLE the Batmobile.”_

 Kara almost dropped her phone in midair. “You  _what?_ Octavia why?” She addressed the younger girl by her alter ego; knowing it was only a matter of time before Batman found both of them, and potentially locked them in an underground bunker till they promised not to touch his things anymore. There was grumbling from the other end, as Kara began her own rounds of the city.  
  
_“He benched me again. Something about protecting me from myself? I don’t know. He’s not my dad._  
  
“He’s your  _t_ _y_ _nth._ ” The Kryptonese was an accident because the word eluded her in English. But it still had Octavia humming thoughtfully. And Kara struggling to think of an easy translation.  
  
_“What does that mean?”_  
  
“It means he’s the head of the Batfamily.” Clarke supplied helpfully from the other end. And Kara felt a surge of pride because her kin knew bits and pieces of their native tongue, and still wanted to learn more.

 One day she would speak it fluently.

  _“Don’t make it gross. We’re a fraternity of superheroes if anything.”_  Octavia groused, and Clarke could be heard snickering from the other end because they all knew Batman would wholeheartedly agree with his protege. All of the masked crusaders in Gotham were completely averse to having feelings. When Clarke had introduced Octavia to her at a family gathering, she was surprised at how close they were in spite of that. 

It was comforting to know Clarke had someone to lean on now.  
_  
_ “Alright you two, I can hear sirens, so I’m going to go. But Octavia please give Batman his car back. And take care of Clarke.”

  
_“Yes ma’am.”_ She imagined Batgirl was mock saluting her, and shook her head.  _“Bye Kara.”_ They chorused and then the line went dead.

 Palming her cellphone Kara’s gaze zeroed in on the fire downtown.  
  
There was no rest for the weary.

 With a shake of her head, Supergirl was off to save the day again.


	3. Chapter 2: He's not the only Luthor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After burying her cousin, Kara Danvers finally finds the time to interview Lena Luthor; she gets more than she bargains for when she steps into Lena's office.
> 
> Also Lena is gay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Good grief, it has been months, but I finally finished my training so I have some time to write. This chapter has been half finished on my computer for months but it's here now. Completely unbeta-ed. 
> 
> But here.
> 
> Enjoy

“It doesn’t strike you as peculiar how silent our mother has been about all of this? The press swarm us every time we show our faces in public and Lillian Luthor is nowhere to be found. It’s not like her to miss an opportunity to gloat. She hates aliens almost as much as Lex. And he killed _Superman_ ” Lena winced at the reference to the man of steel. Her sister was right; there was something eerie about Lillian Luthor’s absence. Her mother loved to lord her accomplishments over the world; and one of her three offspring murdering the last son of Krypton exceeded even the  darkest of her predilections.  
  
The same tragedy that deified Lex left his other two siblings trembling in the devastation left behind.  
  
That was always how it had been since they were kids.  
  
Her brother always left her behind; Each time Lena became a little more malleable, a little easier to parse apart.The only thing that kept her family’s history from consuming her whole was the need to shield the girl standing in front of her from being disassembled as well. Green eyes-so very similar to her own studied her; Appraised her in silence; because she’d been quieter since Superman’s death.

 

And of course Lexa had noticed- Lexa who had been her little shadow since they lived with a  biological mother she couldn’t recall-who had followed her all the way to National City to help her assume her position at the Head of L Corp, couldn’t help but notice Lena withdrawing. It was exhausting trying to find the energy to pay for a crime she didn’t commit. Superman had never been her enemy; she’d never even laid eyes on him in person, but several thousands of people blamed her for his death.  
  
Because she was a Luthor.  
  
“Our mother is a bit preoccupied trying to get Lex discharged from prison.” Lena groused wearily a gentle sigh of exasperation leaving her as she leaned back in her office chair.  
  
“He belongs in a cage.” Lexa’s posture straightened, and her expression did the same contortions Lena’s stomach were currently doing. The only hint of the protective fury broiling beneath her little sister’s skin manifested in the subtle clenching of her hands into fists. “He has earned every last minute of his time in prison.”  
  
“He’s a legacy. Our mother won’t ever let him rot in there.” Lena felt a headache coming on from thinking about the lengths their mother would go to just to absolve her prodigal son. He could do no wrong in her eyes. It was like his madness had slowly infected her over the years, depriving her of the good sense that should have come with age.

Lexa snorted disparagingly. “She’d let us rot in there.”

  
The words clefted into her ribs, and engraved themselves there with ruthless clarity.  
  
Lillian Luthor was capable of so much destruction.

 

They all were.  
  
They were extravagant people, accustomed to having the world laid bare for them.

 

That’s what it meant to be a Luthor-they were always calculating-always trying to divine the worth and meaning of something so it could be used to their advantage.  
  
Lexa, and Lena simply chose to use their gifts  conscientiously, instead of as a ploy for more power.  
  
“The press is trying to crucify us, how long do you have before this bleeds over into the company, and you start losing investors?” Lexa asked the question Lena had spent hours mulling over. She was already losing people on the board. Half of the men and women who had been in favor of her assuming control of L Corp now wanted her to step down; so she wouldn’t ruin what was left of the company’s image.  
  
“A couple weeks, if that.” Lena grumbled, her lips pursing in thought.  
  
She had been doing so _well._

  
And now Superman was dead, and the future she had just started to build was about to be buried with him.  
  
“That’s plenty of time. We’ve faced worse odds.” Lexa offered a small crooked grin, and Lena was struck by a strong surge of affection for her. Her sister was young, but tactile and resilient; she was exactly what Lena needed to keep her composure right now while wading through a city full of maddening people that couldn’t see the difference between her and her brother. There was more to be said, but before they could start brainstorming for solutions, the phone rang. Lexa sighed despairingly, and went to get comfortable on the plush couch in her office, while Lena begrudgingly accepted the call.  
  
What else could possibly go wrong today?  
  
Jessica her ever faithful assistant informed her that Kara Danvers had just arrived and wanted to speak to her. Lena blinked owlishly, because  Kara Danvers wasn’t someone that just dropped by on whim. She’d been graced with her presence the first time on the heels of a Clark Kent interrogation-and she assumed that would be their first and last meeting.

She’d been wrong, but Kara had been radio silent with her for 3 weeks.

 

Why was she showing up now?  
  
“Tell Kara I’m free, and she can come up.” She tried to keep her tone placid, but those expressive blue eyes flashed across her mind, and her reserve melted a little. It took effort to hang up the phone like a calm and collected person would. She was the aloof executive of her company, not a teenager anymore; it would take more than a blonde with a dazzling smile to disarm her.  
  
Lexa, arched one eyebrow imperiously at her.  
  
“Who’s Kara?”  
  
Or maybe her name was all it took.  
  
“Nobody.” The automatic response didn’t sound believable to anyone and Lena visibly cringed.

  
“Oh, She’s definitely somebody.” Her sister’s smile was wicked. Teasing. And so adverse to her normally terse expression it was humbling. In any other situation that wasn’t at her expense she’d find Lexa’s cheeky words funny but the truth ranckled her more.

 

Kara really was nothing to her.

 

They’d been in each other’s company a handful of times, exchanged a few amiable texts  over the last few weeks, and that was it. Remembering their first encounter in her office, felt like dredging up a distant dream because for one brief moment it felt like Kara understood her. There had been something warm and profound that existed in the things that weren’t said. The little lapses in space between Clark’s words and her own, where she’d look up and find comfort in Kara.  
  
It was asinine because she didn’t even **_know_ ** her.  
  
Not really.

“She’s just an acquaintance, Clark Kent is her cousin.”  
  
Lexa’s gaze sharpened considerably at that, and Lena shifted uncomfortably in her office chair. “She’s a _Kent?”_

 

“No. She’s a Danvers. She was adopted.” The words ‘like us’ remained unsaid, but they lingered in the air between them still. A veritable obstacle they didn’t know how  to overcome even though they were both adults now.

 

Lena had done some research on Kara to sate her curiosity and paranoia before getting to know her.  
  
She didn’t like things that couldn’t be quantified or named, especially now when she had so much to lose.

 

She hadn’t found anything damning about the youngest Danvers, beyond her being related to Clark Kent. Her brother’s most ardent opposer in the press.

 

Kara was nothing like him though.  
  
She hoped her sister would arrive at the same conclusion after meeting her.  
  
For now, what Lexa was thinking remained a mystery.  She was forced to hold her counsel as the object of their conversation knocked timidly at the door. “You can come in.” Lena attempted to sound nonchalant as Kara took the invitation and swept into her office. She didn’t flit in with a nervous smile, she strode in with heavy steps, all the reluctance in the world adding weight to the cave in her shoulders. Lena’s polite smile wavered-because she wasn’t sure what to make of this Kara, who looked impossibly tired and defeated before even saying a word.She still wore her signature pastels, and grandma shoes, but that’s where the similarities to the Kara of old ended. Blue eyes that had been so exuberant a few weeks prior locked with hers, and Lena had to wonder what had happened since they last spoke. “I’m going to hazard a guess and say this isn’t a social visit?” The mystified CEO initiated conversation gently, each word testing the minefield she knew was waiting.  
  
Kara sighed, and the sound only magnified her unease.  
  
“It’s not.” Two hoarse words scrapped from the bottom of her lungs.Laden with too many emotions to name. Kara paused, as if to collect herself. The raw vulnerability on her face  wasn’t something Lena was ever meant to see.

 

The quiet stretched on till it was uncomfortable; but the blonde didn’t seem to want to speak till she found the appropriate words. “Cat gave me a desk, and made me a reporter.” It was a quiet admission. One that would normally warrant celebration, but there was more, and Lena waited patiently to hear what the catch was. “They want me to interview you about the--Lex thing. About your take on what happened between him and _Superman.”_

 

The last words of her sentence came out strangled.  
  
And Lena now understood why Kara looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here.  
  
“You haven’t formed your own opinions of where I stand on this in the last three weeks?” The words were artfully chosen, asked in a tone that was deceptively calm while Lena felt anything but. Kara’s silence while the world crumbled around her, had hurt more than she cared to admit.  She didn’t expect a lot from the blonde reporter because they hardly knew each other, but she’d expected **_something_ **.Her words must have struck a chord, because Kara suddenly looked alarmed, and eleven different shades of guilty.

 

“Lena no-” The words wilted on her tongue, much like Kara did into the nearest chair. “I know you’re not responsible for him, what happened wasn’t you-I could never blame you-” Her eyes suddenly looked glassy, and all of Lena’s ire faded because it meant precious little compared to the unadulterated grief on Kara’s face. “I know how crazy the media circus has been about this. I would have been here sooner to but I’ve been on leave for weeks. I--Lost my cousin. Clarke he’s-” Her voice wavered dangerously before she just stopped trying altogether.

 

There was no real way to put despair into words.

 

_Clark Kent is gone?_

 

It was hard to fathom, but Kara was here in her office grieving, and Lena had never felt more wrong about a person. It wasn’t disdain for her family name that had kept the woman in front of her from visiting; it was unimaginable loss.

  
Lena bit her lip, and stood up. She took a few uncertain steps forward. Wanting to offer something more than meaningless sentiment.

 

Her heart gave an uncomfortable wrench because she wasn’t sure what would suffice for someone who looked like they had just lost their whole world.  
  
“I Didn’t know. Kara thats-” **_Hearbreaking._ **

 

She didn’t want to finish her sentence. Couldn’t bear to utter such a cruel conclusion. Where she became mute, Lexa found the words to convey the feelings in the air.  
  
“We’re  sorry. Clark was many things to us. He definitely wasn’t a friend, but he was a good man” They’d almost forgotten they weren’t alone.  Lexa was a poignant distraction- because Kara had never laid eyes on her before now. Intrigue waylaid the sadness that had domineered her expression a second ago.  
  
“You’re..Lexa. Lexa Luthor.” It was an estimation on Kara’s part. Lena could see the crinkle on her forehead make an appearance like she had to concentrate to remember there was in fact three Luthor children: Lex, Lena, and Lexa.”Thank you.” Kara whispered after an agonizing heartbeat in which nothing at all was said.The gratitude was enough for the resident Luthors to exchange uncomfortable glances. Kara was thanking them for feeling sympathy?  
  
Taking the initiative from her sister, Lena’s hand glided over Kara’s shoulder blades before gently drawing her into a hug. It was awkward because affection didn’t come naturally to her, but Kara never seemed to flinch at physical contact. The blonde didn’t hesitate to accept the warmth offered to her, and her head dropped tiredly into Lena’s side.

They sat there frozen in time.  
  
Lena trying not to appear like a mere hug  was completely foreign to her while Kara’s trial was just breathing normally.

  
Lexa watched all of this  with an increasingly amused expression.  
  
Abruptly, Kara was the one that pulled away, an unnerved laugh choking from her lips. The newly christened reporter patted at her face like she could deter inexhaustible grief from coming back that way. “I’m sorry, I-lost myself for a minute there.” She fumbled with the words, blue eyes coming into focus for the first time since she stepped into Lena’s office.

Clearly she had been sent back to work too soon.  
  
“Kara we can do this later, if you need more time”  
  
“No.” Lena blinked at the unexpected steel laced in that one word. “You need this. Positive press I mean. People think you both colluded with Lex or benefited somehow from Superman’s fall.” Kara’s grip tightened around the little notepad and pen she’d brought; her new weapons of choice as reporter. “They’re wrong. Let me help you prove that.”

 

How could anyone deny Kara Danvers anything?  
  
Shaking her head gently, Lena circled around her desk and took a seat on her metaphorical throne. Lexa followed her example; pushing off the sofa she was leaning against to approach the duo and get comfortable resting on the arm of Lena’s chair. The sisters felt invulnerable together that was clear. Kara readied her pen with a click, and took a breath to cement herself.

“Alright so, first question, your brother has been in prison a long time, but he admitted to orchestrating this. Did he reach out to either of you before it happened?”  
  
It was a standard question, one that had been asked a couple times before without the veritable softness Kara always spoke with.

 

Lexa snorted indignantly at the idea. “No. He knows better. My brother and I have been-estranged. He wouldn’t contact me before doing something this foul.” She concluded with an airy wave of her hand that was reminiscent of the way Cat dismissed particularly irritating people from her office. 

  
Lena’s chin dropped tiredly into her upturned palm, as she peered at Kara who was scribbling away in her notebook. “Lex stopped trying to inflict his madness on both of us years ago. He knew we wouldn’t have sat idly by and did nothing, while he took away the hero the world needed. He left us in the dark to be just as surprised as everyone else.”

 

“Your brother is very vocal about his hatred for aliens, but you both think Superman is...no that he was  a hero?” Kara’s expression clouded when she was forced to use the past tense, because Superman was gone. Blue eyes glanced up at both of them searchingly. “

 

“We don’t share our brother’s prejudice for aliens. Superman was important. He saved people, And he deserves far more than what he got.” Lexa confirmed what they were both thinking.

  
Kara let the words sink in.  
  
She began to scribble again, determination etched in the lines of her face.  
  
“So to be clear, you’re both standing in solidarity against Lex not with him?”

“My brother has done this terrible thing that’s completely vilified the Luthor name. But he’s not the only Luthor, and he doesn’t represent how we think and feel. Superman’s memorials are everywhere because he spent a lifetime safeguarding an entire planet. He shouldn’t have been killed for that. And we won’t support Lex when he goes to trial for murder for it, because you don’t get to devastate an entire city and then expect us to be in your corner.” Lena was speaking with more passion than she’d been able to devote to anything in weeks. She was so tired of paying insurmountable debts for Lex and his hatred.

Kara nodded rigidly, lips pursing as another thought came to her.

“Lexa Luthor, you’re rarely talked about in the press or seen in the public eye. But you’ve resurfaced for this. Do you share Lena’s opinion?”  
  
The youngest Luthor hummed in affirmation.

 

“My primary focus right now is school, so I tend to keep a low profile, but I’m in National City to support my sister.” Lexa couldn’t be more than seventeen or eighteen but she seemed older in that instant. More disheveled by the last few weeks than Lena had thought. “This whole thing has been hell. And we keep getting credit for things Lex alone was demented enough to dream up. I think what people fail to realize is that we can’t be **_colluding_** with Lex cuz he stopped being our brother a long time ago.”  
  
The words had a sort of finality to them that made Kara set down her pen.  
  
The reporter adjusted the rim of her glasses so they sat on her nose, and tried to clear the emotion clogging her throat.  
  
“I’m sorry that's where things are with him.”  
  
Morose. Conciliatory Kara. Apologizing when there was no need.  
  
Lexa looked away unsure of how to take such sincerity about Lex.  
  
“It’s fine.” Lena stated breezily, trying to sound unaffected even when Kara’s words had  clearly meant something to her.  
  
“It’s not. Family is everything. And people are forgetting that yours is hurting now too.” The words soothed an ache Lena always felt pricking at her insides. The CEO of L Corp sent Kara a rare smile, watching with burgeoning interest as the reporter flushed.  “Since we’re finished, I should probably go. This should be enough to write an article, and I don’t want to disrupt your day more than I have.” Scrambling to gather her supplies, the flustered blonde dumped them in her purse and shot out of her seat. Where the sudden nervous energy came from was anyone’s guess.  
  
“Feel free to disrupt her day anytime.” Lexa returned easily, a smirk on her face as Lena suppressed an exasperated groan. “She works too much as it is.”  
  
“I might just do that.” Kara’s words surprised them both as she walked towards the door, only pausing to offer a quick two fingered salute. “I promise this article will be something to look forward too.”  
  
“Of that I have no doubt.” Lena agreed out of principle, because she’d guessed from the beginning that Kara had the makings of a great reporter. If the Sunny Danvers personality was indicative of anything it was that Kara saw the good in people. If anyone could persuade the public that she wasn’t completely evil it was her.  
  
Kara’s quick exit  from the room left the Luthor sisters alone.

When they were sure she was completely gone from the premises Lexa turned to point an accusing finger at her.  
  
“You are so _gay_ Lena.”

“I’m not doing with this you.”  
  
_“Of that I have no doubt._ ” Lexa’s voice dropped an octave so she could mimic her.  
  
“Stop. I don’t sound like that.” Lena scowled, lifting the nearest paper weight from her desk and chucking it headlong at her sibling. Lexa sidestepped the attack because she didn’t have the decency to just let it hit her.

“You’re right. You sound  way worse. I didn’t know all it took break you was a pretty blonde with blue eyes. You were looking at Kara like you hadn’t had a drink in ten years, and she was the nearest glass of water. _I’m_ not even that bad.”  
  
The teasing had to stop, or Lexa had to die there was no in between.

Stepping around her desk, she moved towards her youngest sibling, intent on carrying out her nonverbal threat.  
  
Lexa must have sensed she was in danger because she didn’t wait around to experience Lena’s wrath.  
  
“We can finish this discussion later. I got school stuff to go do.”  
  
“Lexa-”  
  
“Bye. I’ll tell Veronica you said Hi.”

  
Lena wasn’t fast enough to catch her before she fled.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no idea when the next update is going to be. I have alot of stuff coming up, but hopefully it will be soon.


End file.
